Hip-hop artist Boots Riley's Marxist politics set him in pretty rarefied air even before he added surrealist filmmaker to his resume with 2018's celebrated film Sorry to Bother You.
Now that's he's created a "beyond heavy" small-screen TV series, I'm a Virgo, Riley, 52, is arguably on the verge of becoming the latest incarnation of iconic Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel, an uncompromising and subversive visual artist battling fascism and bourgeois self-satisfaction.
I'm a Virgo tells the story of Cootie, a13-foot-tall Black Oakland teenager (played winningly by Jharrel Jerome), who has been sheltered from the world by his father and mother (a terrifically cast Mike Epps and Carmen Ejogo), who may be more than just anxious about his safety as the parents of an unusual young Black man.
Cootie eventually steps out of his cloistered world and makes friends with three local kids (Brett Grey, Kara Young and Allius Barnes), who challenge his television-mediated views, especially his admiration for the crime fighter The Hero (Walter Goggins), who is more jackboot than Captain America.
During a visit to the neighborhood franchise of Bing-Bang Burgers, Cootie meets and falls for Flora, played by Olivia Washington, who has her own special gifts. She adds more layers to Cootie's adventure.
In the background of this unconventional coming-of-ager are events involving tenant evictions, corporate greed, environmental racism and revolution. It's a lot to take in but Riley has always had a lot on his mind.
The music Riley makes with his group The Coup and what he's done with Tom Morello, guitarist with the rock/ rap group Rage Against the Machine, involve many of the same issues coursing through I'm a Virgo; anyone familiar with Riley's discography won't be surprised.
What is surprising is the deftness of his direction, even the wilder, more cartoonish elements of the story.
I don't think I'm a Virgo's didactic elements will lead to an uprising against capitalism -- but it's thoughtful, entertaining and more engaging than Das Kapital.
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